Nobility of Binturia
For much of its history, Binturia has been a wilderness with hardly a shred of civilization or even sentient life apart from the nomadic tribes of barbarians that roam the Thousand-Mile Forest and the surrounding foothills and mountains. Despite this, in recent decades, the influx of adventurers, refugees, outcasts, and fugitives has led to a larger and larger presence of civilization in the area. As groups of temporary dwellings gave way to permanent structures and even small villages and towns, the total anarchy and wild-ness of the region also began to be tempered with law and standards kept by those leaders that were strong, worthy, and willing to take up such mantles. History The earliest "leaders" of Binturia were little more than the strongest members of the adventurers that dared carve a living out of the hostile land. This was natural and sufficient for the time, given how treacherous even the safest areas of Binturia were at the time. After several long years and numerous endeavors to survive the chaos of the Thousand-Mile Forest and the cursed Ruins, things began to slowly change. The first, and perhaps most decisive change, came to be after one winter, when the shroud of darkness and turmoil that oppressed the forest began to weaken ever so slightly. Some scholars and historians speculate that the change may have been linked to the cessation of a long-waged and bloody secret war among the creatures of the Underdark, but this is mere supposition, and hard evidence of this theory is difficult to come across. Whatever the case, the adventurers, farmers, and other civilized occupants of Binturia gathered in an attempt to bring formal government to the land. The result of many days of discussion and argument on various topics was a communal system of representatives based on duties and professions. Thus, the Binturian Guilds came into being, and some degree of power was placed in the hands of the most important Guildmasters. For a time, this system of government seemed to function well, and the collaboration of the strongest Guilds (most notably the Police Guild, the Guardians of the Sacred Grove, the Alchemists' Guild, the Rangers, and the so-called Council of Lords) did wonders to strengthen the presence of civilization in the forested land. The power balance was delicate, however, and disagreements among the Guilds and among the people soon saw Binturia's web of internal diplomacy bring the fledgling government to its knees in a hopeless tangle of bureaucracy. From the remmnants of the time of the Guilds, most Guildmasters were stripped of their additional power, and even the Council of Lords was dissolved. As it happened, the remaining power over the growing population of Binturia fell into the hands of the merchants, rather than the roving adventurers. As might be expected, this turned out to be a significantly more stable and successful system, and under the indirect guidance of the strongest and boldest merchants, among them rumored to be the legendary Tenzig, the community in Binturia boomed, and certain small areas of the land became safe enough for tiny settlements to arise. Following the time of the Merchants was a long and slow transition towards the Binturia of today. Tent cities on the outskirts of the forest gave way to ragtag stands of rough cabins and cave homes, which themselves soon were replaced by larger and more permanent structures of wood and stone, until a full-fledged town sprang up surrounding the bastion known as Fort Veridae (though once called Viveridae, a combination of weather damage to signs and local custom shortened it to Veridae.) Although said town has been ravaged repeatedly by a variety of threats, its inhabitants and structures remain steadfast and continue to thrive. Among them, some of the oldest title-bearing Binturians join more newly-vested nobles in the system of nobility as it currently stands. While the lands political and execuitve power remains largely at the town level and safely outside the hands of adventurers, those that have earned titles enjoy some token respect for the deeds for which their titles were earned, and depending on the case, their word holds some weight within Binturia and among some of the other nations of Orelisle, though the latter tends to vary due to the status of Binturia as a rough commonwealth. Additionally, certain guilds have risen once again, though they do not wield the power of the old Guilds, and they shall not be discussed here. The Present Binturian Nobles Those that currently hold titles and nobility granted and recognized by the Commonwealth of Binturia are as follows. Titles will be listed roughly in chronological order, beginning with the oldest. Any secondary titles and the like will be noted in parentheses, and may not be directly relevant to Binturia itself. High Lord Tenzig the Merchant Lord Faceless the Immortal Lord-Marquis Aeoden (Zombie-King of Galkador) Lord McAlester the Shark-God, Groom of the Sea Lord Elrik Kaizoak the Alpha (Prince of Taphran) Lord Aureus Tasman the Grand Inquisitor (Taphran Ambassador) Lord Mephisto the Slayer Lord Enzar the Liberator Lady Atro the Earthfriend Lord Akuma the Just Others may yet come. Category:Binturia